Cesc wiped the sweat from his brow as he the fire subsided around him. Valentine, his Monferno, looked over to him, tossing a casual thumbs up as the remnants of the flames around him died down.

"You've gotten a lot stronger since you evolved." Francesco Rojas grinned at his Pokemon Partner. "Messes with my muscle memory a bit, my friend. But don't worry, that's on me. You keep doing what you do, and we'll figure out this appeal in no time."

He sat down, picking up his discarded shirt and using it to wipe his face and bare upper body from the sweat. Back when Valentine had been a Chimchar, it had been easy to keep up with his Pokemon's movements, but Monferno was so much faster, stronger, and sharper. It was a good thing that they were training together.

Cesc took a moment to survey his surroundings. They'd chosen a quiet plaza in Arasam, one of his favourite little haunts since so few people seemed to traipse through there. His Aunt and Uncle's tailor shop was only just around the corner, but still there wasn't a lot of foot traffic. There was very little to offer on that street, save for the tailor shop, which had gotten more business since Cesc's last contest win. However, he needed to boost that with a win here in his hometown.

Looking over to his side, he saw that the Ralts he had saved recently had not yet left his side. The small little...creature...had been watching in fascination as Cesc and Valentine trained, and had been reluctant for Cesc to take him back into the surrounding Arasam woods. He seemed interested enough in contests...perhaps Cesc would make him a partner. But with the Contest coming up, it seemed silly to throw him into the mix right off the bat.

"Keep observing, my little friend." Cesc reached into his pack and tossed over a Leppa Berry, which the Ralts fumbled on the catch. Smiling, he watched the little guy reach down and clumsily pick it back up, before biting into the berry with evident relish.

Turning back to the task at hand, he had one more pokemon whose moves he had to sharpen. Valentine, Oberon, and Tybalt were all ready...but his unruly Bardolph was still in need of some sharpening, and he wasn't going to be able to do that without presenting the Scyther a challenge.

"Bardolph. you're up."

In a flash, the Scyther appeared from the pokeball, standing and facing Valentine, who immediately took a stance.

"Bardolph...let's focus on making your moves as cool as they can be."

The Scyther, in turn, looked back at him, rolling his eyes. Cesc had never seen a bug type roll its eyes before, so this struck him as rather amusing. "Bardolph, my friend, you're going to be a contest star. You'll get to fight fantastic opponents, but we won't win unless you also make it look cool as hell. So let's start off with Vacuum Wave!"

"Th-that little demon. I can't believe he bit me! And not once, but three times!"

Scott growled, rubbing his left hand and part of the connecting arm.

"Don't you ever get tired of saying the same thing over and over? It's been more than twenty minutes, and he didn't bite you all that hard......" Amber muttered as she walked behind him, with Ruby in between the pair.

After the near-disaster and long hospital stay in Fidona, they were back in Arasam. They weren't on an official mission, though, but rather they'd simply come because there was something Scott wanted to check on.

The first time he'd met that poacher and battled that winged Absol, he'd been here on this mountain trying to save the inhabitants of a cave full of evolution stones. Then he'd seen that same poacher and Absol in Fidona. If that guy was out of prison, was the cave still safe?

So he'd come to make sure all the strong Pokemon he'd seen in the cave were all right. Fortunately, they were. Unfortunately, most of them hadn't been especially happy to see him. He hadn't quite won their trust yet.

And in an exceptionally dumb move, he'd challenged the Glaceon to a battle, intending to catch it. However, the ice fox had merely brushed Ruby off to the side before attacking him instead. Scarlet had protected him, but this just caused the irate fox to rush up and bite him, twice on the hand and once on his arm before he'd fled.

Luckily, as a Glaceon, it didn't have much bite strength. But still, it had hurt.

And so, there they were, walking back to the city of Arasam.______________________________________

The burns on Scott's back hadn't fully healed yet, but he was able to walk for moderate periods of time with little support. Even then, he carried a pair of crutches for those times when he ended up too tired or in too much pain to keep walking without support. Currently, those crutches were sticking out of the main pocket of his backpack.

The pair of humans and their Pokemon stopped briefly to eat lunch, and then continued walking for a bit before they heard something- fire? They could see a little bit of smoke, not enough to signal a wildfire, but enough to make them curious. Was there a fire-type Pokemon training nearby? It was either that or a campfire of some sort, and either way, Scott had been itching for a good battle since he'd gotten out of the hospital (fighting the Glaceon really didn't count).

Amber took the lead as they approached the source, with Scott and Ruby trailing behind her. "I think I see someone...... a guy with a Scyther and a Monferno," Amber whispered, hiding behind a thick oak tree while Scott hid behind a smaller tree nearby.

"That guy...... is that Cesc?" Scott muttered. "It...... really looks like that's Cesc. Does he live around here?"

"You know him?"

"He was the guy who helped me during that whole cave incident. Or rather, I helped him. He's pretty strong, but I wonder...... how much stronger has he gotten? Ruby, you want another go at him? We can make this just like the first time we met."

"Wait, you can't be serious. You're letting her attack someone? That's not Ranger-like at all!" Amber protested, but Scott ignored her and let Ruby make her move.

In an oddly familiar fashion, Ruby stepped out of the undergrowth opposite from the clearing of what appeared to be a wild Ralts and somewhat behind Cesc's Monferno. While she wore a Ranger vest, Scott wasn't sure if Cesc would recognize her since she had evolved into a Ninetales.

With her battle spirits flowing, Ruby issued her challenge with a battle cry, her nine tails spread out behind her as she waited to see who would be her opponent.

How Lucie had gotten out of that wretched, humid place was a mystery to even her: all she did was run a lot in a single direction. Her body ached for days afterwards and she felt like her lungs would explode, her legs would snap and her heart would burst out of her chest. The second she was out, she collapsed out of relief, but forced herself back up; Peanut still needed medical assistance… all of her Pokémon did. She swallowed her ego and asked for directions to the first person she saw, not even thanking them and quickly going to the nearest Pokémon Center, dozing off on a bench while the Nurse Joy healed her Pokémon.

Her Litleo had woken her up by licking her face, and Lucie made a scene when she noticed that he wasn’t healed: all she did was bandage his stomach! She didn’t really understand how bones worked, all she knew was that Pokémon Centers healed Pokémon. “It will take a few months for him to heal, miss, it’s a rather serious injury.”

A few months? Just how useless could this Nurse be? Lucie let her know what she thought of her and walked off in a huff, her Pokémon back in their pokéballs, save for Peanut, who would stay in her arms. As soon as she could, Lucie got away from Fidona. She had no idea where she’d be going, but anywhere would be better than Fidona. Barley was in no way interesting to her, so her aimless wandering took her east, managing to find small villages and towns to stay fed and clean. She even managed to find a nice family who was willing to shelter her for a night, though they didn’t expect her to be such a rude glutton and kicked her out the next day.

The chubby girl eventually found her way to Arasam, attracted by news of contests. She remembered watching those on TV whenever they came on; it mesmerised her to see all the pretty outfits and costumes the Pokémon and trainers would wear, all in the attempt to wow some judges. She thought that maybe she could try it, but she quickly realised that she knew nothing about how contests worked and, well, she had no money to afford basic things like clothes and soap, nevermind costumes and flashy clothes. Her once bright pink and white dress was now a dull, dirty shade of plum accented with dark gray and holes and tears. She’d have to settle on watching, and it bothered her greatly.

Arasam was a very strange place, she thought, much different from her home of Lilycove. Even its placement was weird: in a crater stationed near a mountain. However, it was a fairly pleasant place, and the people were gullible and easily tricked; Praline had managed to steal a larger amount of food than usual without getting in trouble, the Purrloin’s cute pom-pom tail making her look even cuter than her species normally was. However, while it was more food than usual, it still barely even constituted a meal for someone normal, and barely constituted a snack for the gluttonous teen.

It had been a month or two since she was caged like an animal, and Peanut was clearly starting to feel better. Every Pokémon Center told her the same thing: she’d have to wait for him to recover. It annoyed her to no end. She didn’t want to wait, she wanted her Litleo to not be hurt anymore! Peanut seemed pretty cheery though, as he could now play with his three friends without too much trouble.

Smoke and the smell of fire attracted the big girl’s attention. Was there an open-air barbecue nearby? Lord knew she could go for a few dozen burgers right now. She went to the source and didn’t make her presence too known in her disappointment: it wasn’t a barbecue, it was two trainers with their Pokémon.

With tremendous amounts of simian grace and agility, Cesc's Monferno gracefully wove around Bardolph's Vacuum Wave attacks. Cesc stood there, dabbing at his forehead with his shirt, pondering how else he could use the vacuum wave in tandem with any of his Pokemon's other moves. As it stood, Bardolph had little to no synergy with either of his other pokemon. Very little in terms of appeal...very little in terms of double battles, save for the rapid fire slashing combos Cesc enjoyed utilizing. Sidling over to one of the benches in the park plaza, he reached into his shoulder bag, pulling out the metal coat and pondering what would happen if he asked Bardolph to evolve?

His thoughts, however, were interrupted upon the arrival of a Ninetales, who wore a rather stylish vest. Her tails bristled angrily in the air, and Cesc immediately felt the heat of a challenge upon him.

"All right then." the tanned coordinator grinned, pumping his fist. "Bardolph. Here's your next opponent. Think you can win this one with style?"

The Scyther's angry glare fell on him, almost as if the proud bug-type were dismissing Cesc's very question for being far too stupid.

"Great. Then let's work together okay? We're so much stronger as a team-"

"SCY".

"Fine. No pep talk. Just remember that you're at a disadvantage here, so avoid those fire attacks at all-"

"SCY!!!"

"FINE. Go for first blood. Quick Attack!"

To set about testing the Ninetail's strength, Cesc ordered the move, eliciting a sharp cry from his fearsome bug pokemon. In an instant, the Scyther burst forward with incredible speed, running a zig-zagging pattern as his wicked blades flashed towards the fire fox.

In the second he watched his Scyther launch into an attack, the coordinator felt a nagging sensation of deja vu. Why was this moment suddenly so familiar?

"Such speed...... she'll never be able to counter that!" Amber muttered. "Why do I get the feeling this isn't the first time you've let her do this kind of thing, anyway?"

"Be quiet. Let me concentrate."

As Cesc had noticed his new opponent, Scott had let Scarlet out of her Great Ball and had used her telepathic powers get to in touch with Ruby. It was hardly fighting fair, but seeing as Ruby was likely fighting a higher-skilled opponent she needed the extra help.

Give the new move a try...... and parry it with one tail.

He didn't typically give Ruby direct commands and instead gave her suggestions if he bothered to help her out at all, but he was curious how Cesc would react to this.

Standing her ground as the Scyther loomed in and ignoring his comment on only using one tail, she whipped two of her tails around so that they were curved around in front of her, before using her newest move to cover them in steel armor.

Iron Tail.

The two tails crossed several inches in front of her nose in an "X" shape in an attempt to block Scyther's blade-arms like a shield. However, during training she'd found the tails too heavy to move effectively, so they typically had to be braced against the ground and couldn't be swung very well, precluding her from using them as an attack on all but the slowest targets.

However, having nine tails that could each bend in odd shapes before getting the steel armor made them an extremely effective defense, and one that absolutely nobody expected. Plus, the tails still had a limited ability to twist and grab things even after Iron Tail was activated.

And, of course, if the tail-shield did in fact stop Scyther, it would likely either stay in place and push back on the tails to try and break through or it would hesitate and wait for a new command from Cesc, leaving it wide open for Flamethrower. But if Scyther moved to the side and went around the tails, Ruby's sides and rear were exposed and she probably wouldn't be able to block with other tails in time, so it was a very risky move. So what would it do?

Was… Was that what battling was like…? Lucie could barely even see the Scyther move, much less even fathom of reacting to that. It did kind of put things into perspective for her: she had a long way to go if she wanted to get her old life back through battling. Her entire team barely managed to defeat a single Electrike… Maybe she did need some help…

Before the chubby girl could let herself dwell on thoughts of swallowing her ego, she noticed something odd: the Ninetales’ vest. As she still didn’t know what a Ranger was, she stood there, extremely perplexed. Why did this jacket ring so many bells, not to mention that Ninetales’ trainer? In fact, the other trainer seemed somewhat familiar too… Less so, but still.

Seeing the Scyther did send immediate bad vibes, though: she may not have known that many Pokémon, but it was very easy to see that it was related to that Scizor that had attacked her and her Pokémon in that accursed rainforest. It even seemed as aggressive as that monster.

However, while the big teenager lost herself in her own thoughts, her fully gray Minccino was observing the battle intently, especially the trainers with his big floppy ears completely alert. Seemingly, his memory was better than his own trainer’s (Peanut’s too, but he was asleep in Lucie’s arms) as he seemed to recognise someone and ran off like he always did.

Instead of running off into the unknown like he usually did, though, Pecan just ran up to the Ninetales’ trainer, though he seemed to need concentration, so the Minccino opted to hop on his friend’s shoulder, wanting both a better spot to watch the battle and to possibly make a new friend and meet what was, by his standards, an old friend.

Cesc gave a little whistle of appreciation as he watched his Scyther's blades clang noisily into the metal tails of this Ninetails, as if she'd already prepared for the speed and ferocity of Bardolph's attacks. As the attack had proven ineffective, Bardolph jumped straight back, giving the tails a wide berth in the chance that his enemy chose to swing them around like a pair of clubs. Yet, despite Bardolph's eagerness to fight, Cesc knew that his pokemon did not possess the most diverse set of techniques, so opted to continue to play to Bardolph's strengths.

Before his Scyther even touched the ground, Cesc swept his arm dramatically upwards. "Wing Attack!"

With that, Bardolph charged headlong at the Iron Tails again, his dizzying speed hopefully catching the poised enemy off guard. With goal was simple: Knock the Iron Tails upwards and out of the way, and open up the Kitsune-like Pokemon to a direct attack from above. At the very least, Ninetales was mostly combined to movement on a fairly two dimensional plane, even though that Iron Tail technique could serve as a good defense against attacks from all directions.

It's not quite like fighting a steel-type...but this is good training! Cesc thought happily as Bardolph's buzzing wings began to glow as the energy in the attack charged up.

Scott failed to notice the presence of the Minccino as he tried to figure out how to take on a higher-skilled Pokemon.

Using Scarlet's telepathy, he communicated with Ruby- A defensive strategy won't work. Take the offensive.

Ruby didn't seem to mind switching to offense, since her personality tended to be aggressive anyway. However, there was still the problem of the Scyther flying forwards towards her.

Letting her tails return to their normal furriness, she dashed forwards and jumped into the air, seeking to counter Barldorph's Wing Attack with her own Quick Attack. However, she wasn't able to get much speed before they made contact with each other, and was thrown off to the side by the more powerful attack of her enemy.

She landed next to a small tree stump and stood back up, shaking the dirt off of her long fur and letting out a long growl. Now that Scott had given her the freedom to attack as she wanted, she fell back on her favorite new move.

Taking a deep breath, she sent a stream of deep red flames at Barldorph in a Flamethrower attack._______________________________________________

In the meantime, Amber picked up the Minccino that had come to watch off of her shoulder and held it in her arms. Due to her being a Ranger and her special whistle that called nearby wild Pokemon to her, she was used to having random Pokemon visit her. She had no idea it belonged to someone, though.

Scott and Scarlet paid no attention to Pecan whatsoever, though. Scarlet was too busy both keeping the telepathic link open and observing, while Scott just didn't want to lose to Cesc again and was only paying attention to the battle.

As the gleaming horizon of an expansive city grew larger with every step forward Celeste took, she raised a brow. Arasam was large to say the least. Hopefully it would have a few quiet corners for her to find at the very least, though the foot traffic of such a glamorous city would hopefully make for a few sales on her incenses and spell tags. As she felt a bump against her shoulder her lips turned gently upward, furrowed brow softening as she looked down at Eve. Her sweet little bell jingled delightedly, its gaze set toward the same skyline Celeste had been in consideration over, the excited little gesture reminding her why she'd chosen to stop in Arasam before continuing on her path.

Jem and Eve deserved an intense bout of pampering. While they adored being beside Celeste she knew that the last six months of travel in particular had been difficult for them. Eve, bright little socialite that she was, had found few opportunities to meet anyone new along the stretches of land they'd traversed and it had worn on her. Up until the previous night when they'd first spotted Arasam's glitter of lights she'd taken to nestling into Celeste's cloak to sleep the day away. Meanwhile Jem, whose appetite had been spoiled the first time he was taken into Lilycove, longed for poffins, pokepuffs, and spas, a living embodiment of the phrase "treat yourself". He'd opted to remain in his dusk ball until Celeste and Eve found a hotel with spa services up to his standards.

Celeste brushed her fingers softly against the dusk ball he slept within before looking toward Eve once more, leaning her head down to bump her cheek against her bell. "Go on ahead, lovely, get a good eye of the city. Try to find us somewhere up to Jem's tastes." With a gentle jingle, Eve levitated further and further up before entering Arasam. The focus of Celeste's eyes returned to the city that only seemed to grow more expansive as she grew closer. Eve and Jem would certainly drag her into their preferred luxuries, but already she felt prepared to be on the road again.

After twenty minutes of walking a sweet bell rang beside Celeste's left ear. The corners of her lips turned upward and she opened her eyes, hardly considering the overexcited buzz of the city, instead focusing on Eve's joyous jingles. "Let's get Jem to his appointments, hm ?" The bell chimed, racing down a street, jingling loudly at the end of it before darting forward once more.

Celeste gave a quick heave to her hiking bag before running forward after Eve, hoping she didn't step on any passerby's feet as she pressed her way quickly through crowds and empty backstreets, following the chiming of her bell. As it finally grew louder, Eve stopped in place, Celeste felt warmth growing, her steps taking her into a plaza with a vested ninetales spitting flames toward a scyther. Her brow raised and she halted in her step, raising a brow toward the bell.

Eve jingled before doing a smug little flip. She'd be doing all the navigating in this city though, and given her recent lack of social energy Celeste couldn't blame her. Levitating over the battle, Eve stopped just short of the pair of trees two trainers hid behind before grasping the trunk of the oak and ringing even louder. Leaving Eve to whatever claim for attention she was attempting, Celeste looked between two on the plaza. One who took a great pride in his style and another who appeared tired and lost in thought. As it dawned on Celeste that she couldn't see the ninetales' trainer, she looked over toward Eve, smiling at the bell's antics.

The challenging Ninetales opted to meet Scyther head on in the air, which proved to be a rather poor decision, as she was sent tumbling off to the side.

Cesc had been prepared for a Fire-type attack on his Pokemon, and as soon as he saw the vested-Ninetails brace herself and breathe in, he called out:

"Silver Wind!"

He had watched Valentine use Flamethrower several times over the past training sessions, and he knew that the flames were usually more intense at the center, but they spread out as they headed away from the technique's user. It didn't necessarily diminish the powerful effects, but Cesc figured he could disrupt a little. In one of his encounters some time back, he'd tried to combine a Fire Spin with someone else's Whirlwind, and it simply petered out. This was a more powerful fire attack and a weaker wind-style Bug Attack; he didn't need to diffuse or stop the flames...just redirect them.

Bardolph sprang up into the air, generally avoiding most of the flames' trajectory. Silver scales burst forth in a wave of energy, fanning the flames downward and beneath him. Most of the beautiful, silvery powder-scales were incinerated instantly, but the force of the attack helped propel Bardolph up and over the blast of the flame...mostly.

Cesc heard his Scyther screech out in pain as the feet of his Pokemon were wrapped in flames for the moment, and it seemed clear that Bardolph was now suffering from the dreaded burn-status. His attacks would be weaker, and certainly his agility and mobility on the ground would be somewhat hindered.

"Dammit." Cesc frowned, placing his hands akimbo as he scouted out the situation. He needed to get back on the offensive, but it seemed like he'd have to play on the defense for now. If the Ninetales opted to continue to blast fire at Bardolph from afar, it would wind up in a quick defeat for him and Bardolph.

Ruby was cautious for a couple seconds, waiting to see if her opponent would try something else. When they made no move, she decided it was her turn to try again.

While her offensive abilities were great, the strategies that she had the most pride in were the ones that simply screwed up her opponents. For this reason, she tried for a two-move combo.

The first move was Disable. Her nine tails raised up towards the sky, with all their tips congregating into one point and pouring an odd psychic power into it, creating a dark purple ball of psychic energy. While her foes had their eyes on the ball, she let it burst, sending a practically invisible wave of energy towards the Scyther. As far as she knew, there was no real effective way to avoid the move without hiding behind something, and since Barldorph was out in the open, she made the assumption that the move had impacted him. It would prevent him from using the same move twice by messing with the energies inside his body for a couple minutes.

While her foes wondered what had just happened (or at least, that's what she was hoping- that Cesc had no idea what she had just done), she quickly took another deep breath and let loose another torrent of fire. This wasn't Flamethrower, though- instead of flying straight towards her target, the flames began to swirl around him, creating a vortex of fire that was only a little bit wider than Barldorph was.

If he didn't move, he would be perfectly safe from the Fire Spin attack but an incredibly easy target for her other moves. But if he moved, he'd take fire damage. So what was his next move?_______________________________

"Is that...... a Chingling? Why is it flying over the battle? It could get hurt......" Amber muttered. But then, it wasn't the only observer that had popped up- there were a few girls watching the battle, along with that Minccino she was holding and what appeared to be a few various wild Pokemon.

In any case, Cesc seemed to be wrapped up in the battle enough that he hadn't recognized Ruby yet, and Scott seemed to have no intentions of showing himself until the battle was over, so Amber sighed. While the guys let their Pokemon beat each other up, she was probably going to have to be the one who helped them heal afterwards......

And she knew that Scott wasn't just going to stop with Ruby. Since he didn't often get to battle with someone as strong as Cesc, he most likely was going to throw Scarlet in as well at some point...... just to see how effective teleporting was against a good opponent.

The real question was, when would he send her in? The thin purple fox had already taken up a perch in a tree at the very edge of the clearing- within plain sight of Cesc, if he was only paying attention (she is also wearing the same vest as Ruby)- as she waited for the signal to go and have some fun.

Despite the nearby gentle chiming, Cesc maintained his focus on the battle as the Ninetails formed a purple ball that burst, doing very little, if anything. The co-ordinator hadn't seen a move like that before, and while certainly pretty, it didn't seem to accomplish anything of note. However, the next fire attack swept up, forming a vortex around his now irate Pokemon. The Scyther's cries didn't sound hurt, as far as Cesc could tell, but rather frustrated at what appeared to be more of a trick than an actual attack. However, the fact remained that he was now trapped in a vortex of fire, and potentially an easier target for the next Flamethrower. Either he moved and was burned, or made himself an easy target, especially due to his hindered mobility.

"Oh!" Cesc snapped as a thought struck him. He had no idea how this would play out, but again the memories of wind disrupting fire popped into his head, and he knew he had a shot. Silver Wind had been ineffective at fully dispersing the fire, but Bardolph had another move that could potentially remove the flames in front of him. "Try Razor Wind!"

Feeling the heat, but still staying relatively calm, the Scyther's wings buzzed angrily, whipping up a little whirlwind, almost like a shield directly around his body. The winds whipped up violently, breaking apart the Fire Spin just long enough for Bardolph to take a quick hop sideways. With the makeshift whirlwind shield still whipping up around him, Bardolph began to charge towards the Ninetales, which, while not what Cesc had intended, made sense to him tactically. He'd move in closer to unleash the resulting air blades from fairly point blank, while maintining his defenses as he moved forward. The release of the attack, along with Cesc's next command could make for an interesting combination; something Cesc was eager to try out.

Ruby was perplexed. From what Scott had told her a few times, she'd thought that wind made fire stronger by adding more oxygen. But this wind wasn't doing that at all, and to make it worse, it was almost repelling her Fire Spin!

She didn't know how to counter such an attack, and the confusion as to what was happening meant she was too slow to dodge or to put up an Iron Tail shield. There was little she could do but simply brace herself and take the attack head-on. Digging her paws into the ground, the impact of the attack pushed her backwards a bit of a ways, but the vicious winds the Scyther was creating weren't enough to knock her over since she'd braced herself beforehand.

What the winds did do, however, was really mess up her fur, with the razor-sharp winds cutting her in several places causing a little bit of fur to drift away in the wind. This had the effect of really making Ruby angry.

In a normal situation, she would most likely have either used Roar to hopefully make her opponent take a few steps back in hesitation, or she would have gone with a point-blank Flame Burst attack. However, seeing that Barldorph had been burned by her previous Flamethrower, she went for an entirely different attack- Hex.

It was one of Scott's least favorite attacks of her, but a very effective one regardless. He had tried to tell her only to use it on true enemies like poachers, but she was mad enough over her now-uneven fur to use it on a normal opponent. What her Hex attack did varied, but essentially it took a regular status condition and amplified it to the point of actually doing damage. With the Burn status she often inflicted, the attack essentially made the burn feel extremely painful for a couple seconds, although it didn't actually make the burn any worse. Although the attack itself was a beam of ghostly energy that did damage on its own, the secondary effect of making the burn worse was purely a mental attack and caused no lasting effects. However, for the short duration of the attack, the target would feel like the burned location was on fire- which was why Scott didn't like her using it.

And so, ignoring any additional damage the Razor Wind did and letting her Fire Spin dissipate, Ruby shoved one of her tails at Barldorph and wrapped it around one of his arms to try and lock him in place. Then, in a similar way to the Disable attack earlier, the eight other tails all gathered around one point and glowed an odd blackish-blueish-gray color before creating a ball of energy, which was then fired in a beam at her opponent from point-blank range.___________________________________________________

"Yeah, she's kinda let the battle go to her head a little bit...... but you never know, that Scyther might have some kind of trick up his sleeve, like Detect or Protect. Even still, I told her not to use that attack unless she absolutely had to."

"Why don't you just stop the battle?"

"Too late now. And besides, I don't think he's done yet. It might be good for Ruby if Cesc's team beats her up after she uses an attack like Hex, to show her that it is a really cruel thing to do."

Between the burn and the incoming Hex attack, Cesc was at a loss of how to proceed. Bardolph was a bit of a one-trick pony, still, and currently, he wasn't sure how to circumvent that. The combination attack had his Scyther screeching and taking a knee. Cesc held up his pokeball, recalling his partner inside so as to diminish the suffering a little bit. As he lowered the Pokeball, without missing a beat, he called out:

"Valentine, Mach Punch!"

There was a part of him that figured that this vested Ninetales belonged to some trainer, but with no trainer around to issue commands, it was possible that the pokemon was just out to harass and harangue him. It was time to send her packing, in order to avenge his downed teammate.

As Valentine flashed in from seemingly nowhere, not having been recalled to his Pokeball earlier, Cesc figured that the lightning quick strike would hopefully connect and stagger the creature.

"Follow it up with Close Combat! Don't give her time to catch her footing!"

(Blah short post is blah. Sorry, just want to keep this moving, and I've been slacking.)

Scott had correctly guessed that Hex would be the end of Cesc's Scyther's battle, and that Cesc wasn't going to give up. But seeing as Ruby had used a forbidden move, and she'd beat her initial opponent anyway, he decided against sending in Scarlet to help her out. His Ninetales was on her own for the time being.

And there really wasn't much she could do against Valentine. The difference in their experience levels was simply too much, even taking into account the stronger average stats of a Ninetales versus a Monferno and the fact that she was completely immune to his fire attacks.

While she had been half-expecting the attack, she was way too slow to dodge the Mach Punch and took the punch right to her furry forehead. Between the speed of the attack and location of the hit, she was pushed back a few steps, and while she shook her head to try and clear out the pain, Ruby was blindsided by Valentine's Close Combat and was knocked out instantly, falling to the ground.

However, before he could give any instructions to his Espeon on where to teleport, Amber kicked him from behind and knocked him out from behind the tree and into the clearing. "No, I don't think so...... I think it's time you stopped ambushing people and started doing things more Ranger-like."

After a moment of silence, she stepped into the clearing as well and spoke to Cesc. "Sorry about that. My partner here seems to think it's fun to send out his Pokemon to ambush other Trainers, and it doesn't help that he thinks he knows you...... my name is Amber, and this is Scott. And that Ninetales over there is Ruby."

As she spoke, Scarlet teleported over to Ruby, sitting next to her and poking at her.. Meanwhile, Scott was lying flat on the ground, muttering, "M-My back...... T-That hurt......!"

Cesc pumped a fist in victory, watching as the Ninetales crumpled to the ground. However, there was no sign of a trainer for it, and it appeared he'd just knocked out a Pokemon in broad daylight. Perhaps it was time to take it to a Pokemon Center-

Catching him completely off guard, a young woman appeared into the square, introducing herself as Amber. Cesc took a moment to clutch his shirt to his bare torso, as if he'd been caught off guard, unaware that he'd been being watched. The familiarity of the situation finally slapped him in the head when Amber introduced "Scott" and "Ruby".

"Scott, the Ranger-in-Training!" Cesc grinned, remembering fully the first time he'd met the ranger, and he'd set the little Vulpix of a Ruby out to battle him. Now it seemed that Ruby was fully evolved, and quite potent at that. He walked over, offering his hand in greeting to Amber, smiling broadly.

"Amber, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Cesc. Perhaps Scott told you about our dashing adventure, fighting poachers and a winged Absol? No?" In reflex, once Amber offered her hand in turn, Cesc bent down to kiss the hand. Snapping his fingers, Valentine was over at his side, beaming up at Amber. "Say hello to the pretty lady, my friend. Amber, this is my partner, Valentine. He seems enthused to meet you as well."

"I'm, err, pleased to meet you. I've heard some things about you from Scott. That was his first major, umm...... mission, if you can really call it that, and he's talked about it a lot. As for that Absol, well......"

"We'll get to that in a few minutes," Scott interrupted. "Let's just say that it and its trainer are somehow both still out causing trouble. It's a long story."

"And of course it takes place when I'm not around to keep him out of trouble," Amber chimed in.

Scott ignored her. "I'm sure you remember Ruby from back before she evolved. And both of my Eevees have evolved as well." He pointed at his Espeon and continued, "There's Scarlet, and Ebony's now an Umbreon. Plus, I also added a Leafeon to the group. His name's Moss." He held up the Great Ball and Luxury Ball that his other two Eeveelutions occupied. "Ebony had a long night so he needs to rest, and Moss is real shy...... but you'll probably meet them later."

Amber released her two Pokemon. "The Electrike is Nikila and the Absol is Luna. Unlike Scott, I took more of a "wolf" theme for my team instead of his foxes."

Scott slowly stood up, rubbing his back, and returned Ruby to her own Luxury Ball while Scarlet scampered over to him. "I've got a Ranger Station a couple miles from Loch Ranch now, so if you're ever in the area you should stop by. Amber and I are usually down there and Ruby's always looking for a good opponent."

He paused for a moment, then added, "Sorry about her using Hex during that battle...... she's not supposed to be using that attack except in dire situations. It's extremely painful to get hit by. But other than that...... Scarlet has a special little ability that you'd probably have interest in battling against."

"Before that, though......" Amber interrupted again, "about that Absol you fought a while back...... Scott fought it and its poacher master again in Fidona a couple months ago. And they completely destroyed him- he's got burns all up and down his back from them."

"The Absol didn't seem too much stronger than when we fought it on the mountainside, though. But without me my team was scattered and tired, and they couldn't do much. I had a girl helping me, but one of her Pokemon was severely injured and Ebony tore several muscles in his leg," Scott added.

"And then they managed to escape somehow, despite Scott's friend releasing lots of the Pokemon they had captured. I think you mentioned a Charizard?"

"Yeah, an angry Charizard rampaged through the place. But after we escaped, a Ranger team came through two days later and the place was totally abandoned." Scott sighed. "I was worried about that cave we found wen we fought those poachers the first time, but it seems that they haven't returned to attack it again. All the Pokemon there were fine, if a little bit mean......"

"After checking on the cave, we came back this way towards Arasam...... and Scott saw you. And right away he let Ruby attack, almost as if he'd done it before." Amber muttered.

"W-well...... umm......" Scott stammered. "That was kinda how we first met."

He quickly backed away in a feeble attempt to get away from Amber's special angry eyes of doom, and asked Cesc, "You haven't seen any other suspicious people around, have you? I would doubt those poachers are going to give up on a cave full of evolution stones, but I'm not sure where they went after they fled Fidona."

Cesc and Valentine nodded with rapt attention as Amber and Scott launched into several quick descriptions. Cesc didn't remember asking for so many explanations, but he appreciated the two taking time to explain their situation, then introduce their pokemon.

"A pleasure to meet you all." the co-ordinator smiled charmingly at Amber's Pokemon.

"No worries about the Hex." Cesc shrugged nonchalantly, "it was a battle, and neither Bardolph and I were prepared for it. I expect if you're up against folks like the kind we met before, then you don't have room to play nice with them."

He nodded again, quietly absorbing the information that the two continued to fill him in on. As Scott let out a soft explanation as to how they'd met before, Cesc let out a chuckle, watching as the Ranger shrank away from his partner.

"Arasam's full of suspicious people." He sighed, folding his arms across his chest. "I'm sure I've encountered plenty of suspicious people, so unless you give me a few specifics, I won't be able to help much."

"I'd be surprised if they gave up on it too, but it sounds like you've got their organization running around a bit, so I doubt they've got the coordination to launch another raid on the cave."

He placed a finger on his chin, eying Amber and Scott for a moment, then took a moment to slip his shirt back on. "But, we can't rightly go scouring the mountainside on empty stomachs. Why don't we head over to the Pokemon Center, then back over to my home for some dinner first?"